French parliamentarians call out China's narrative in disputed Indo-Pacific report

Paris [France], August 4 (ANI): The French National Assembly's Taiwan Friendship Group on Friday issued a strong rebuttal to a controversial report on Europe-China relations authored by French legislator Sophia Chikirou of the La France Insoumise (LFI) party, denouncing it for echoing Beijing's propaganda and misrepresenting UN Resolution 2758, Taipei Times reported.
According to Le Monde, the 153-page report, which was approved for publication on June 17 by the National Assembly's European Affairs Committee after a brief debate involving only eight members, including four from LFI, has sparked political outrage and academic criticism.
The report's overtly pro-China stance was said to clash with the official position of the French government, Taipei Times noted.
Led by lawmaker Marie-Noelle Battistel, the Taiwan Friendship Group released a statement challenging the report's most contentious claim: that "the United Nations has recognised Taiwan as a province of China."
The group clarified that UN Resolution 2758 merely recognised the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate representative of "China" at the UN but did not define Taiwan's legal status, the Taipei Times reported.
The statement emphasised that the resolution "does not preclude Taiwan's participation in other international organisations" and criticised the report for repeating Beijing's false narrative.
The group also referenced the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, affirming that the Taiwan Strait constitutes international waters. It urged the French government to continue naval transits in the Strait alongside allies such as the US and UK to maintain freedom of navigation and uphold the Indo-Pacific status quo, Taipei Times said.
Citing China's escalating military drills and frequent incursions into Taiwan's air defence identification zone, the group warned that Beijing seeks to "undermine regional stability" through psychological and military pressure.
Finally, the group rejected the report's proposal to abandon the EU's Indo-Pacific strategy in favour of a China-inclusive framework, calling it a dangerous concession that violates international law and compromises French interests in the South Pacific, the Taipei Times reported. (ANI)